How Windward Makes use of Microsoft SQL Server in its Products

There is often times a misunderstanding when I am discussing the feature of Windward products with clients in regards to Windward's use of Microsoft SQL Server. I am here to clear a few things up.

1. Windward Products that make use of Microsoft SQL Server: These products can all make connections to Microsoft SQL Servers and retrieve data from them to be used in reports.
   1. .NET Engine
   2. Java Engine
   3. AutoTag
   4. AutoTag Max
   5. Arrow
2. Windward Products that make use of Microsoft SQL Server for storing Windward specific data key to the operation of Windward products:
   1. AutoTag Max
   2. Arrow
   1. Windward needs an SQL Server to maintain a database for the scheduler program that accompanies AutoTag Max.
   2. Windward Arrow requires the same database for its scheduler but since Arrow is a 3^rd party web part add in to Microsoft SharePoint (either WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007), then this is almost never an issue as Microsoft SharePoint needs an SQL Server before it can be installed.
3. AutoTag Max has a feature in its installer to detect if an existing SQL Server is installed on the target system.
   1. If an existing SQL Server is not found then the bootstrapper in the installer with download and install Microsoft SQL Server Express.
   2. Microsoft SQL Server Express is a free version of a lightweight SQL Server offered by Microsoft. It is not a full version and performs the basic need of providing AutoTag Max with a small database to store report scheduling information.
4. Windward products can connect to multiple databases in a single report. These data connections are used for retrieving data for your report and not for storing Windward specific product information.
5. Windward products can connect to almost any database.
   1. Windward supports the big 5 database manufacturers connecting in native mode.
      1. Oracle
      2. IBM DB2
      3. MySQL
      4. Microsoft SQL Server (2000, 2005, 2008, CE, Express)
      5. PostGRE
   2. For other connections Windward support ODBC and OleDB connections to 3^rd party drivers provided by the database manufacturer. These connections utilize "connection strings".
      1. Visit http://www.connectionstrings.com if you need help building a connection string for your particular database.
6. Windward supports connecting to several other datasources that are not SQL based.
   1. XML files, via local path, UNC path or URL. Also with or without a schema file reference via local file or URL.
   2. Microsoft Excel: CSV, XLS, XLSB , XLSM and XLSX
   3. Microsoft Access: MDB and ACCDB
   4. Microsoft SharePoint Lists via OleDB
   5. Windward SQL Schema. This is an schema file that is generated from the Windward Engine that a DB administrator can then remove tables that are not needed in order to make accessing the database and loading the tree structure significantly faster.
7. Windward also support a datasource API allowing a user to write a custom datasource connection that can communicate with Windward.

As you can see Windward has the ability to connect to almost any datasource. Only a few products store Windward specific information and thus require a small, free, lightweight Microsoft SQL Server Express database.